PTI Make It Monday #204: Watercolor Smooshing

This week's Make-It-Monday challenge is hosted by the uber creative, Betsy Veldman.  Betsy is crazy talented and makes the most amazing projects!  This week she has shown us a technique for getting the neatest watercolor effect using our stamp reinkers and water.  I highly suggest you check out the video for yourself.  You can find all the information here.

For my card panel, I chose to "smoosh" using Hibiscus Burst and Summer Sunrise inks.  I just love the soft look that was achieved.  I layered some stamped die cuts from Betsy's Quilted: Spring stamp set, accented with a sentiment die cut.  Finished off with a few sequins, and a few too many dots of glossy accents.  :)  And, lastly, I added some stickles to the floral centers as well as the sentiment (which turned out so pretty and sparkly in real life)!  I'm quite tickled with how this card turned out.  Thank you for the inspiration, Betsy!

And, thank YOU ever so much for stopping by!  Hope you have a great day!

WPlus9 Throw Back Thursday Challenge

Today's card was made for WPlus9's Throw Back Thursday challenge.  I am so excited to see one of my favorite stamp companies hosting a challenge again.  Oh boy, have I missed those Monday Mood Board challenges!  If you would like to see this challenge for yourself, you can read about it here.

For this card, I used my Stampin' Up D block and dabbed various Distress Inks onto it.  Then I spritzed the block with water until it was nice and pooled.  I turned my inked block over and set it onto my card stock panel.  I moved it around slightly to try and make as nice of a square shape as I could.  After letting the panel dry completely, I stamped and embossed my sentiment and stars.  Lastly, the entire panel was adhered to the card base with dimensional foam adhesive.  My favorite part about this card was how the ink colors came out looking so galaxy-ish.  :)  
Thank you for the inspiration, WPlus9!

Thanks ever so much for stopping by!

PTI Make-It-Monday #203: Doodling with Stamps

This week's Make-It-Monday challenge is hosted by the very talented and creative, Ashley Cannon Newell.  She is the master of doodling and just wait until you see the card she made for this challenge!  It's amazing!  If you would like to check out Ashley's gorgeous card, or the challenge, you can find all the information here.

For my doodle experiment, I chose to use the Funky Florals stamp set.  I used the rock-n-roll inking method to get a bit of variation in my flower colors.  Then I set about to doodle some definition.  I just kept adding more doodles until I was happy with the results.  Then, I went and covered up my doodled floral centers with some glittery Diamond Stickles … whooops!  Who knew clear glitter glue would cover up black ink?  Oh, well.  It just gives me an excuse to go out and buy some black Stickles.  :)

Thanks ever so much for stopping by!

PTI Make-It-Monday #202: Anchoring with Border and Banner Dies

This week's Make-It-Monday challenge is hosted by the lovely and ever so talented, Melissa Phillips.  She is the master of layering and has shown us some of her tricks and techniques.  If you would like to check the challenge out for yourself, you can find all the information here.

For my card, I chose to use a pattern paper background, with a Linen Vellum tag, topped with a skyscape die, die cut stars, star garland, and a cutie patootie cupcake.  I even managed to stamp a matching envelope.  Yea, me!  lol!

Thanks ever so much for stopping by!

PTI February Blog Hop Challenge

This month's PTI Blog Hop is an inspiration photo challenge.  Check out this sweet little number that Nichole Heady has found to inspire us to get crafty:

So what do you think about that photo!  Isn't it just lovely?  I love the watercolor look and the gorgeous colors!  Those are the two things that inspired my project today.

I used the Year of Flowers: Violets stamp set heat embossed in clear, and watercolored using Tim Holtz Distress Inks as my medium.  I typically make cards for my projects, but decided to keep this beauty for framing.  Thanks for the inspiration, PTI!

Thank you ever so much for stopping by!

PTI Make It Monday #182: Mason Jar Stamping

This month's Make-It-Monday challenge is hosted by the Queen of Shabby Goodness, Melissa Phillips.  She has shown us her techniques for creating fun home decor by painting and embossing on mason jars.  If you would like to check things out for yourself, you can find all the info here.

For this challenge, I first painted my mason jar a vintage green color.  Then I stamped using the Autumn Adornments set using white, orange, and red embossing powders.  I decorated a trimmed down Tag Sale #9 with a sentiment from Sunflower Bouquet.  I tied on some ribbon and trims using Melissa's fabulous junk bow technique and lastly, added a few crinkled and inked leaf die cuts to accent.

This technique was much easier than I'd anticipated and it sure gives a lot of bang for your effort!  Thank you, Melissa, for sharing your talent and ideas with us!

Thanks ever so much for stopping by!

PTI September Blog Hop

This month's PTI Blog Hop is an inspiration photo challenge.  Check out the gorgeousness that Nichole Heady has found to inspire us to get crafty:

So what do you think about that photo!  Isn't it just lovely?  I really like the pattern on the pail, the softness of the knit sweater, the purple berries, and the cool color palette.  What's not to like, right?  So let's get to some projects!

I started with the pail as inspiration.  I pulled out some embossing paste, tinted it grey, and used the PTI Twist cover plate as a stencil.

I added a sentiment from the Beautiful Brushstrokes kit, Sweet Life die cuts, Scribble Circle die cuts, some splatters of ink, and finished with a few drops of Glossy Accents to add some interest.

While I had the embossing paste out, I used another stencil to make an angled ombre(ish) pattern for this card:

I kept the card CAS, adding an ombre-inked die cut sentiment and some color-coordinated homemade enamel dots using Betsy Veldman's clever technique.

And, since I had all the stencils out, I decided to try an inking technique to make a colorful background for this card:

I used another sentiment and more die cuts from the Beautiful Brushstrokes kit.  I also crocheted a stand of grey yarn to use for the bow.  I really like the soft touch the yarn lends to the project.

The pattern of the pail made me think of Betsy Veldman's Luxe Letterpress impression plate.  I started with a lavender moon panel and masked off around the center panel to stamp the floral pattern.  When I was done, I decided it was all too monochromatic (i.e. boring :), so I used the coordinating die to cut the center of the panel out and die cut the letter L from the center.  To finish, I positioned the center piece underneath an ivory impressed panel.

Lastly, I have a card using the interesting technique from this week's Make-It-Monday challenge.  Danielle Flanders showed us a neat way to craft with toilet paper.  Yes, I said toilet paper!  Image that!  If you would like to check out the video, the challenge, or the great projects made with toilet paper, you can find it all right here.

I added some color to my toilet paper medallion using splash inks.  I used Marybeth's idea of adding my medallion behind the card's front panel.  I like the finished look doing so lends to the project.  Thanks for the inspiration, Marybeth!

That's all for me today.  Thanks ever so much for stopping by!  Happy Hopping!